Echo
by AmberXAutopsy
Summary: The Hound is defeated...will Sansa's world ever be the same?
1. Chapter 1

His fingers were like insects as they crawled across her skin, sliding along the gentle dips and valleys of her newly forming curves.

She was being corrupted by a man who was supposed to protect her. A man who had welcomed her into his home as a daughter but had somehow trapped her in his sick delusion, moaning her mother's name into her ear as he thrust relentlessly into her unwilling body. His breath, hot and heavy, tainting her flesh as it slithered its sticky way down her neck.

He was ruining her. Marking her as his with every sweaty stoke of his hands, unperturbed by her stiff, unyielding posture.

Her eyes stayed shut tight, locked against the image that laid before her, willing herself to forget.

Wishing that someone would come and stop him.

Come and save her...

"Sansa..."

This voice was new, so gentle as it spoke her name, it's deep tone soothing her aching heart. A large, rough hand came up to stroke her hair only to fall and run down her jaw, a low chuckle breaking the silence around her as she leaned in, pressing into the warm, unexpected touch.

She knew that voice...she was sure of it. It was calming in a way that was familiar, and yet it held a certain edge. An untapped depth that always seemed to send her body ablaze.

A soft gasp swelled in her chest as she dared a peek, taking in the shadowed man atop her with such a hunger and desperation it sent a blush up her neck to her paint her cheeks.

She could not, nor did she try, to stop her hands as they rose to stroke the cracked, angry flesh that sent her stomach to flutter. Dark eyes stared down at her, meeting her gaze as a spark glowed deep within.

"Little bird..."

Light rapping at her door drug her from her dreams, her eyes fluttering open to greet the thick fog that filtered into her room.

She had been hoping to sleep in today. To request her breakfast and stay locked up in her chambers until her presents was all but demanded. But, of course, she was forced to face the day, groaning inwardly as the sun, blocked by the ever present cloud cover, assaulted her eyes with its grey hue that settled heavily over her. Wordlessly she rose her slim frame to sit, crossing her hands across her lap before calling for whoever was in the other side to enter.

The door was pushed open seconds later to reveal her hand maiden, Jayne, bursting in amidst a flurry of green and silver fabric. Her skirts flared about around her ankles as she scampered across the room, the door slamming unnoticed in her wake as she stepped to the edge of Sansa's bed.

"M'lady." She said, her words rushed and her breathing rapid as she bowed low in a quick, uneven, curtsie.

"Slow yourself, Jayne." Sansa heard herself say, her brow furrowing in worry as her paled hand reached out to touch the young girls arm. "Catch your breath before you speak. It can not be that importent."

Jayne shook her head in reply. "Oh, but it is!" She insisted as she composed herself, her breathing starting to slow.

"Well?" Sansa urged, waving her hand between them in encouragement. "On with it then."

She watched as her hand maiden cast a glance over her thin shoulder, leaning forward as she let her frantic gaze wander around the empty room. "I over heard your Lord uncle, Lady Sansa. I was-"

Baelish.

His name brought her recently forgotten nightmare back into the fore front of her mind, her stomach taking to churning as the images insulted her memory. Her eyes dropped from Jayne to settle on her lap, watching her hands twist around eachother.

"I care not what Lord Baelish has to say." She mumbled, straightening her shift as she pulled her legs close, tucking them beneath her.

"No, no, m'lady." Jayne insisted, shaking her head ardently, her eyebrows pulling together. "This you will care to hear."

Sansa sighed before dropping silent, nodding her head slowly for her to continue on.

"I was walking passed Lord Baelish's solar only minutes ago with your breakfast as requested when I over heard him talking. I know I shouldn't have, Lady Sansa, but I stopped and peeked through the door crack and..." her voice trailed off, the soft curve of her bottom lip disappearing into her mouth to be gnawed upon.

"And what, Jayne." Sansa huffed, letting her hands fall uselessly at her sides, exasperated. "I say, getting a story out of you is like pulling teeth!"

"He was in deep conversation a woman." She blurted out, the words falling between them as her small hands came up to cover her mouth, eyes fearful. A light chuckle flowed passed Sansa's lips as she took the news in, her tone friendly when she spoke.

"You act as if I will tar and feather you, silly girl!" She said, letting a smile pull at the corners of her lips. "I see not why you are acting as such. You very well know my feeling towards my 'dear uncle'. If anything this may be a relief-"

"They spoke of your sister, m'lady...the woman said she knew of her where abouts."

Silence.

'This...this can not be...' Sansa found herself thinking. Her eyes, wide with fear and confusion, darting around the room restlessly, the cold suddenly seeping to her skin despite the thick covers that had once kept the morning chill at bay.

"Arya...?"

Jayne nodded slowly, her eyebrows knitting together in what Sansa could only describe as a confused sort of sadness, unnerved by her odd display at what should have been wonderful news.

"I could not see the woman, m'lady, but her words did ring true." she continued, taking a seat beside her lady and taking a trembling hand in hers. "You should be happy...your sister has returned to your life."

Sansa's eyes rose in time to watch a soft smile grace Jayne's lips, pulling the smooth, pink skin back around her teeth.

Yes, it should be wonderful. And it would be...if it wasn't a hoax.

Someone's idea of a joke, perhaps.

Hastily she rose from the bed and threw herself towards the door, uncaring as she heard her name called behind her.

Her sudden anger pushed her on, told her where to go in a blind haze as she wove her way down the narrow, intricate halls.

Arya was dead. Killed by the Lannister's long ago as Joffery had so often had bragged. Her head taken in cold blood to sit beside their fathers for eternity.

Whoever this impostor was, no matter how much gull they had to show up and claim to know where her sister was, they needed to be corrected.

To be shown they can not toy with others feelings as such.

Sansa didn't bother to knock as she barged into lord Baelish's solar, moving her narrowed eyes to search around the glimmering walls and golden shelves as she made her way down the short entry way, coming to stand before her uncle.

He turned curious eyes onto her, watching in an amused silence as her outburst progressed, his thin hands wrapping around a book that laid upon the short table beside him, bringing it to rest against his stomach.

"Sansa." He greeted, a smile thinning his lips further. His beady eyes watched her with an unnerving passion as she stormed the way towards him, her bare feet slapping against the thin carpet that lined the floor. "How are you this early morning. Pleasant I trust."

Disregarding his question she stepped forward, her hands, trembling limply at her side, clenched into fists as she grasped helplessly at the little unused control she had left.

"My family...is dead, uncle." She said, her words strained. Silently she watched his face draw and the smile cast upon it slowly fall away.

"Yes, Sansa..." he replied slowly, his eyebrows coming to meet in the middle. "And I am truely sorry-"

"Then why do you make them a mockery?!"

"I am sure I do not understand-"

"I heard you have a woman here." Sansa said, finding herself interrupting him yet again. "A woman claiming to know my sister and where she is."

"Sansa-"

"No! We both know Arya is dead! You were there when Joffery placed her head upon the spike!" Tears brimmed in her eyes at the memory, blurring her vision as she let her eyes fall closed. "Do you wish me destroyed by this pain? Is that what you want? Because if it is you might as well have left me in Kingsla-"

"It is true, Lady Sansa."

At the new and unexpected voice Sansa's head turned, her gaze following the towering darkness as it made it's way across the wall opposite her. The shadow cast its shivering blackness around her, dancing with the dull flicker of the candles glow, stretching far to reveal a giant.

The woman was large, not only in height but in girth as well. Her shoulders wide and wrapped in muscle that bulked incredibly through the thin fabric of her tunic. Her arms were long and hunging awkwardly down her side as she rounded the narrow corner, her fingers tracing the worn hilt of her sword nervously.

"Who are you?" Sansa found herself demanding in a lame voice, looking ahead at the lady knight with a sort of fearful awe. "Why so you speak of my sister."

"My name is brienne of Tarth...I've traveled many miles on a journey requested by Lady Cat." The lady knight replied, stepping into the stray strip of dim light that filtered through the center of the room. Her deep set eyes held a look of amazement as they rolled over Sansa. "You look so alike..."

"My mother is dead." Sansa said, shifting uncomfortably under the giants steady stare. "How is it that you are on a journey for her."

"Sansa." Lord Baelish warned, his tone low. "Lady Brienne is our guest. I will not have you speak to her in such a matter.

She watched the giants head turn towards the small lord, looking down at him through heavy lidded eyes.

"No, my lord. She is right." Slowly her gaze swung back to Sansa. "She asked this venture of me before she-" Brienne's words cut of, either from tightening of Sansa's expression or by her own unwillingness to say the truth. But, whatever the cause, her mouth closed firm, swallowing deeply before continuing. "Before she was taken from this world."

Despite herself Sansa felt her curiosity peak. "You knew my mother?"

"That I did, Lady Sansa." She offered with a small smile. "I was her sworn sword."

'My mother's sword.'

"I...was already off and in my way to find my lady's daughter's when the horrible events took place." She continued, her head bowing slightly at her shoulders as she hoisted her helmet further under her arm. "I was not there to protect your mother...for that I apologize."

Nodding slowly she let her attention fall, allowing her eyes wander along the delicate thread patterns that her feet. She didn't know whether to believe the lady knight that stood before her or not. Unknowing if her heart could survive yet another heartbreak, unwilling to once again be the butt of a cruel joke.

And yet...she had to know.

"You say...you know of my sister, lady-knight." Sansa heard herself say, looking up in time to see the giant offer her a curt nod in her direction, some of her short blonde hair falling into her hard eyes. "Is she...here?"

Brienne let out a sigh, casting her eyes briefly around the gold paneled room. "No, my lady. I ran across her and her companion just a fortnight ago but...she ran."

Sansa felt her brow furrow. She had never known her sister to be one to run. She had always been the bravest if all the Stark children, running off into the forests after imaginary spirits or slipping out in the dead of night to practice her sword work deep within the gods wood.

"She ran?" Her words were spoken in shock.

"That she did." She replied, her large arms crossing against her chest. "I came across her hidden in an inlet not for from an travel path. At first I did not know who she was. Just another orphan trying to survive I assumed." Her chest swelled with a sigh as she paused, shaking her head slowly. "As soon as I saw her capture stride forward I realized. I had heard many stories all across the land of her and her capture. Helpless villagers slain and then robbed by a man that stood as tall as a tree and wore the face of a beaten dog. It wasn't until the kings dog himself shone his blasted face that I knew. This was her."

The kings dog...

"The Hound?" Her voice blurted, her eyes snapping up from the floor to gaze at the giant that stood before her. "The Hound is near?"

From the corner of her eye she saw her lord uncle, long forgotten seated at his desk, raise his head, his eyes heavy on her as he gazed at her curiously, his jaw tightening.

"No, my lady." Brienne said. "The Hound is no longer."

She watched as the lady knight pulled herself straight, flashing Sansa a toothy smile as she offered a low bow, oblivious to the jagged knife her words had unknowingly stabbed in Sansa's heart.


	2. Chapter 2

Sansa couldn't breathe as she rushed into her chambers, the clatter of nearby objects going unheard as they fell to the ground at the force of her entry, the door slamming in her wake. Her hands, small and delicate, grasped at her chest and neck as she struggled to slow her breathing.

The Hound was dead.

Those words couldn't seem to register in her mind as she slid to the ground, her knees striking the cold, hardened ground beneath her as her legs gave way, unwilling to hold her weight any further.

He couldn't be gone.

He just couldn't...

_For a moment all sansa could seem to do was stare, her eyes locked on the giant, a wide self satisfied grin playing on the wide expanse of her mud smeared face._

_"He's...dead?" She finally managed, her voice little more than a whisper as she spoke. "Truely?"_

_"Yes, my lady." Brienne said, offering another sharp nod. "Last I saw of him he was tumbling off a cliff back to the dark hell he crawled from. Do not worry, Lady Sansa...he will no longer plague your dreams."_

_She swallowed deeply, her throat and mouth suddenly dry as she forced a smile, her lips pulling apart painfully._

_"Well...thank you, lady knight." She was grasping, willing her voice to remain steady and relieved. To appear joyous when all she felt inside was pain. "The world will be a better place, a safer place...without him in it."_

_The giants smile only seemed to widen, her full chest swelling with pride from Sansa's spoken praise, bowing low once again in gratitude._

_"Well, what wonderful news!" Baelish suddenly said, his words louder than needed as he slapped his hands down onto his desk causing Sansa to startle, her head jerking into profile to watch him stand. "Isn't that right, Sansa dear?"_

_His tone was wrong. It was bitter and his words were snapped, his posture tight as he made his way over to lay his arm across her shoulders. _

_Lowering her head Sansa replied, struggling to retain the hopefully convincing smile upon her trembling lips. _

_"Yes, my lord uncle...very wonderful indeed." _

_"I can only imagine how much of a relief it is for you. After all, he tormented you so."_

_Sansa's jaw tightened, her feet shifting. "He wasn't the worst, my lord." She dared, her words weak and shaking as her voice quivered. _

_In response Baelish's hand squeezed her shoulder, his pointed fingers digging painfully into her skin as he pulled her closer to mold her small body against his side._

_"Imagine...such wonderful news so close to the wedding." He shone a toothy smile, his hot breath fanning across her face. "A present from the Gods of sorts you could say."_

_Sansa's hands twisted against her stomach, her fingers tangling in the ivory fabric hitching it further above her knees._

_It was like salt in her wounds when lord Baelish mentioned the shameful wedding he was planning._

_Just weeks before her lord uncle had begun spending more and more time tucked away in his solar, often staying behind his stacks of books the entire duration of the night, entering the breakfast hall in the same clothes she had seen him in only hours before when they bid their goodnights._

_At first she assumed it because he was stricken with grief over her aunts recent death, maybe even suffering from a guilty conscience. It had been quiet in the castle than and she would often find herself drifting down to the kitchen just for some company. She would sit for hours on those uncomfortable stools listening to the hand maidens tell their many tales and lending an eager hand whenever the cook decided to make lemon cakes._

_It had been wonderful at first, a vast improvement to King's landing where she ventured in fear. It had been a breath of fresh air so to speak to escape the heat and the ever present smell of horse manure that seemed to hang like a sheet, tainting everything it touched with its stench._

_The sense of new found freedom Sansa had been basking in was stolen away only a moon ago when her uncle had asked her into his solar one night, informing her of his intention to wed her._

_"Wedding?" Sansa heard Brienne say, her brow furrowing as her eyes turned to the eldest Stark girl. "Your marrying the lady?"_

_"Indeed I am." Baelish replied, his tone light and sure. "I figure what better why to protect and ensure a pleasant future for the young girl than to marry her myself." Baelish paused to chuckle, pulling Sansa's ridged body even closer. "She is so happy about it...aren't you my dear."_

_"Yes, lord uncle..." her eyes rose to meet the piercing depths of the giants, tears slowly starting to brim before she forced her gaze to drop once more, shamed. "So very happy."_

_"Lady Sansa-"_

_She cut the lady knight off with a wave of her hand, raising her head to put on a slipping smile. "If you'll both excuse me, but I have yet to break my fast...I am feeling a bit faint."_

_She was numb as she turned and made her way out, barely waiting for the heavy doors to swing shut before taking off._

_The world around her suddenly much smaller._

_Suffocating._

"Sansa."

A voice broke through her haze, a voice she hoped she had evaded for a moment.

"Sansa." He said again, his voice firmer. "Raise your head, child."

Silence.

"Look at me!"

She felt Baelish's thin hand worm it's way under her chin, his thick jeweled rings cold against her skin as he pushed her head back, forcing her to meet his small eyes.

"Are you crying?!" He said, his tone incredulous. "For the Hound?"

Unsure she shook her head, wincing as his grip tightened.

"Don't lie to me, Sansa!" He snarled, baring his blunt teeth down at her. "After all the horrid things he watched the lions do to you...you still cry for him?!"

"It matters not who he was or what he did or didn't do, lord Baelish!" She suddenly found herself storming, her eyes narrowed. "It's still a life that is lost! A life taken! My mother taught me to morn for those dead. Not judge them for sins of the mortal world!"

He remained silent through her words, letting his hand fall uselessly down to his side as she tore her head from his grasp, his mouth set in a tight line.

His next unexpected words sent cold shock coursing her veins.

"Did you let him touch you?

His words pulled a gasp from Sansa, her mouth falling open as she stared up at him in disbelief, the heat of a blush crawling up her neck.

"What did you say?" She breathed, unsure if she had heard him correctly or not, sure that a man of noble birth as he was would ask a blatantly insulting question.

"You did, did you not?" He spat through his teeth as he reached down to grab her arm, pulling her roughly to her feet and placing her before him. "That is why you are so broken hearted."

"No!" She rushed, shaking her head in denial."I swear, I am pure-"

A loud slap echoed around the otherwise silent room, Sansa's sputtered words coming to an abrupt stop as her head was jerked to the side. Her flesh was aflame, stinging with the darkening imprint of his hand.

"You give it willingly to him, a filthy dog...but deny me?!" He raged, his hands finding her once more as he lifted her and hurled her across the room, watching as she landed upon her bed. "I will be denied no longer, little Stark."

He was on her before she could move, his fingers finding her tender flesh as he ripped her shift from her trembling body, exposing her nakedness to the frost of the air and the heat of his stare.

"No!" She screamed as she clawed uselessly at his person, trying without prevail to push him away. "Get away from me!"

"Did you scream like that when he touched you?" He growled as he watched her eyes close tight, his fingers worming their way up her thighs before dipping into her heat. "Telling him to stop? To leave you be?"

He was not gentle as he kneaded her flesh, his jagged nails leaving swelling red marks, hot to the touch.

"Or did you scream his name...little bird?"

Her eyes opened wide at the once familiar name.

It sounded different from his lips. It was cold and meaning to injure, putting more insult and hatred into those two words than the Hound ever had.

"How did you..."

He smiled than, reaching down with one hand to undo his breeches while the other held him over her, his scrawny body hovering just inches from hers.

"That is what he called you." Baelish sneered, venom dripping from his lips. "So affectionately."

'It wasn't affection...' she wanted to stay, but stayed silent. She let out a scream as he entered her roughly, knocking her head into the wall behind them.

Candles lit the narrow hall where they stood, casting an evil shadow onto his face jumping across the scarred skin.

_"Lord Stannis is no coward." she heard herself say in a whisper, eyes dropping._

_"He's not the man his brother was either. Robert never let a little thing like a river stop him." The Hound replied, his tone indifferent as he shifted, his armor clanking._

_"What will you do when he crosses?"_

_He gave a sharp shrug in reply. "Fight. Kill. Die, maybe."_

_It was than she dared a look, gathering up all her courage to meet his dark eyes, matching his stormy gaze set so steadily on her._

_"Aren't you afraid? The gods might send you down to some terrible hell for all the evil you've done."_

_His scarred lips pulled tight as he smiled, eyes mocking._

_"What evil?" He laughed. "What gods?"_

_"The gods who made us all."_

_"All?" he mocked, his tone losing its amusement as it became sharp, annoyed. "Tell me, little bird, what kind of god makes a monster like the Imp, or a half wit like Lady Tanda's daughter? If there are gods, they made sheep so wolves could eat mutton, and they made the weak for the strong to play with."_

_"True knights protect the weak." Sansa replied, shaking her head slowly to which he snorted._

_"There are no true knights, no more than there are gods. If you can't protect yourself, die and get out of the way of those who can. Sharp steel and strong arms rule this world, don't ever believe any different." _

_Sansa brow furrowed as she stared up at the towering man before her. _

_Was he saying that she was weak? That she should just crawl off into a dark, damp hole and die?_

_Sansa backed away from him, her eyes narrowing. "You're awful."_

_He merely stared at her for a moment in silence before speaking._

_"I'm honest. It's the world that's awful. Now fly away, little bird, I'm sick of you peeping at me."_

_Wordless, she fled._

She woke with a gasp, jerking up to sit only to find herself pinned down by a heavy arm draped across her chest. Turning her head she gazed upon the sleeping form of her uncle in disgust, tracing the fleshy curves of his face and shoulder.

'I...am not weak.' She thought to herself, eyes slitting. 'I will not crawl off and die!'

After a few attempts she finally managed to remove his arm and peel her body from the sticky sheets. Wordlessly she glanced around the room before pulling a forgotten dress off the floor and slipping it on, tying the bodice with shaking fingers as she hurried over to the chest that sat shoved up against the wall furthest from the bed.

Dust flew up with the lid, tickling her nose as she pushed unneeded objects aside as she dug, feeling her heart jump as her fingers brushed the silky material buried deep at the bottom. She pulled it out with a sharp, short tug, glancing once over her shoulder before letting her eyes drop to the white mass in her hands.

It's bright, other pristine appearance was marred only with the dark burgundy of dried blood and dirt, the faint smell that still clung to it reaching her nose like the welcomed scent of home as it wrapped itself around her senses and forced her eyes closed.

Sansa's mind was sent into a whirlwind of memories. Sights, sounds and smells rushed her mind, pulling her back in time.

It smelled of him. Of the bitter traces of sweat, wine and metal that always seemed to cling to his clothes and skin, reaching her nose whenever he had walked passed her at court, unknowingly sending her heart into hysterics as she stood unnoticed by his steely eyes.

Throwing the cloak about her shoulders she stood, dipping her hand blindly into her jewel case and grabbing a fist full as she passed towards the door, staring ahead as she quietly shut it behind her.

Sansa walked the shadows as she made her escape, ducking into alcoves and behind giant sculptures whenever footsteps sounded to warn her of an approaching figure.

The air was painfully fresh as she slipped out the back gates, disappearing into the trees before the afternoon guards could catch her hooded figure glowing against the sun, it's rays suddenly brightened as the clouds parted.

_"Run faster, little bird." _She heard his voice rasped, the smile that rang from within the whispered words seeming to warm the air, freezing and damp, as it bit at her skin as she ran deeper into the forest._ "Show them your wings."_

And that's exactly what she did.


End file.
